To Start Again
by thatblue
Summary: Months after their kidnapping and return Kate and Gibbs try to find a new balance between work and their personal lives. Sequel to To Save a Life.


**A/N: Between internet and health issues all writing has been at a crawl, but hopefully I can get back in the swing of things. This is just a short chapter to get it started again.**

The phone woke her.

"Be there in twenty."

She heard him move closer, felt the bed shift as he settled down on it beside her. His fingers brushed over her spine, moved up to her hair and smoothed it down softly.

"Wake up, Kate," he whispered in the darkness. "Got a case."

Kate wanted to ignore him, wanted to catch up on the sleep they'd all been denied the previous week.

But Gibbs shifted his hand down over her neck- warm and rough against the skin. She let out a breath, drew it back in.

"Be down in five," she said.

His thumb brushed over the side of her neck, and then his weight was gone. Drawers opened and closed behind her, and then, at last, the bedroom door closed.

 _Him on the wrong side as usual..._

Kate shoved the blankets back and sat up. Across from her, the chair had been tucked back into the corner, the arm covered in a blanket that hadn't been there when she had fallen asleep. Kate smiled.

Every night she left Gibbs downstairs on couch. He'd kiss her cheek, brush her hair back from her face, but he refused to follow her up. And every morning she'd wake up to find him in that chair asleep again.

He'd become a sort of nightmare sentry for them both. Kate knew she should suggest he stop, or that he just move to the bed, but she hadn't been able to muster the courage to do either.

Not yet.

* * *

She met him downstairs by the door. They'd share the drive in together, as had become normal in the weeks since the op. If any of the team had thought it odd when they started showing up together, they hadn't dared to say.

Kate appreciated the silence. Whatever she and Gibbs had found-the comfort and safety that came with her moving in with him without actually moving in with him-seemed far too fragile to be brought out into the light and examined.

Pulling on her coat, she accepted the cup of coffee-when he had started sleeping in, he had also started using his own pot for the first cup of the day- and followed Gibbs outside. Climbing into the car, Kate buckled up, and took a sip from her cup. Hot and slightly sweet, he had it down to an art.

Glancing at Gibbs, she met his smile.

To her surprise, _he_ had been the one to reach out after the op. He invited her over night after night.

He had carved out room for her- in his house and his life.

It might not be dating, might not be a relationship, but she still felt loved.

* * *

Gibbs parked. The field in front of them led down into the darkness of thick woods.

Rubbing her hands together, she put down the cup of coffee and pulled on her gloves. The wind picked up around them as she stepped out. It stung against her cheeks and ears, and Kate couldn't wait for spring to actually arrive.

Gibbs stood on the opposite side of the car, waited as she rounded it to smile. He'd been patient with her, and the others, far more in the last couple months than in all the time she'd known him before.

Looking her over, he stepped in closer, pulled the hood up over her head. The sound of the wind died down.

"You're smilin'."

"Happy people do that, Gibbs."

He looked her over for another moment, then turned and started across the field. She followed.

She didn't need him to say it, had all the proof she-

"I'm happy too, Katie."

She believed him this time.

* * *

"I don't like it."

"Don't like it either, Kate."

She looked at him, as he glanced her way, his hands too tight against the wheel. The fact that he'd let the conversation go on this long, hadn't snapped at her (too much), said everything Gibbs never had. The ache in her stomach grew, and she ran a hand over it, ignored the way his eyes were quick to catch the gesture.

It didn't matter if you saw everything, if you did nothing with it.

"Just come home, Gibbs."

 **Gibbs**

Gibbs looked at his watch, back at the door. He counted down and up, and it hadn't made a bit of difference. He had to wait, couldn't use his phone while they were listening.

Kate would be worried-be furious.

 _Don't think about her_

He let out a breath, hoped like hell they still trusted him enough not to blow the op when the call didn't come in.

Going undercover again this soon hadn't been good for the team. It hadn't been good for Kate, and it sure as hell hadn't been good for him. If he let his mind slip for a moment, he smelled dust and blood and his heart tried to race away with him.

But duty called again, and Gibbs hadn't figured out how to not answer.

He settled down into the chair, forced himself to not pace the short length of the room. Looking as anxious as he felt wouldn't do him any favors. Intel suggested that their potential buyer had a severe lack of trust, and Gibbs didn't imagine he'd come across as cool and collected and trustworthy at the moment.

He forced his heart to slow. The door opened, a tall man in a long coat stepped in. Gibbs stood up, took a step closer and managed a smile.

 _Be home soon, Katie_


End file.
